Janardan Swami Explained

Janardan Swami should not be confused with Janardhana Swamy.

Janardan Swami
Religion:Hinduism
Birth Place:Bahal, Chalisgaon, Maharashtra, India
Birth Date:c. 1504
Death Date:c. 1575
Death Place:Daulatabad, Maharashtra, India
Guru:Nagababa
Disciples:Eknath, Ramajanardana,[1] Janijanardana [2]

Janardan Swami (c. 1504 - c. 1575), or simply Janardan or Janardana was an Indian Hindu scholar, statesman, poet and saint. He was the spiritual guru of prominent 16th-century saint Eknath. His compositions were mostly written in Marathi. He also wrote a few verses in Braj.[3] [4]

Biography

Janardan Swami was born into a Deshastha Rigvedi Brahmin, Deshpande family at Chalisgaon, Maharashtra. They belong to Ashvalayana Sutra and Shakala Shakha.[5] His parents reportedly subscribed to the Asvalayana tradition and were probably adherents of the school of thought initiated by the 8th-century philosopher Adi Shankaracharya.

Janardan Swami was a devotee of the Hindu deity Dattatreya.[6] He was appointed as Killedar or governor of the fort at Daulatabad (previously Devagiri) by its contemporary Muslim occupants.[7] [8]

According to legend, Dattatreya once conversed with Janardan Swami inside a cave within the fort perimeters at Daulatbad. It is also believed that during one of his tours to Ankalakopa, Dattatreya again appeared before him as Narasimha Saraswati. Narsimha Saraswati was an earlier saint and spiritual master and is widely considered to be the second incarnation of Dattatreya. He is thought to have initiated Janardan Swami under a cluster fig (audumbara) tree. Janardan Swami had disciples of various social classes and even Indian and Turkic Muslims. Among his disciples, Eknath is considered the most significant while Ramajanardana and Janijanardana are his other well-known disciples.[9]

Very few details of Janardan Swami's life are known. On one occasion, he had probably instructed Eknath to embark on a pilgrimage. It is thought that he accompanied his disciple until Trimbakeshwar, a Hindu pilgrimage town near Nashik, Maharashtra.[10]

He has composed considerable volumes of devotional poetry, known as abhanga.

Death and samadhi shrine location

Janardan Swami breathed his last at Daulatabad where he is believed to have undergone Mahasamadhi. His samadhi shrine is located within a cave on a hill at Daulatabad.[11]

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Book: D. B. Mokashi. Palkhi: An Indian Pilgrimage. 1 July 1987. SUNY Press. 978-0-88706-462-3. 110–.
  2. Book: Hindu Spirituality: Postclassical and Modern. K. R. Sundararajan. Bithika Mukerji. Motilal Banarsidass Publ.. 2003. 38. 9788120819375.
  3. Book: A Dictionary of Indian Literature: Beginnings-1850. 145. Sujit Mukherjee. Orient Blackswan. 1998. 9788125014539.
  4. Book: Maxine Berntsen. The Experience of Hinduism: Essays on Religion in Maharashtra. 1 January 1988. SUNY Press. 978-0-88706-662-7. 97–98.
  5. Book: Origin and Development of Dattātreya Worship in India. Hariprasad Shivprasad Joshi. 101. Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda. 1965.
  6. Book: Origin and Development of Dattātreya Worship in India. Hariprasad Shivprasad Joshi. Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda. 101. 1965.
  7. Book: Ramchandra Dattatraya Ranade. Mysticism in India: The Poet-Saints of Maharashtra. 1 January 1983. SUNY Press. 978-0-87395-669-7. 214–.
  8. Book: Pushkar Sohoni. The Architecture of a Deccan Sultanate: Courtly Practice and Royal Authority in Late Medieval India. 30 August 2018. Bloomsbury Publishing. 978-1-83860-928-3. 63.
  9. Book: Saints of Maharashtra. 99. Savitribai Khanolkar. Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan. 1978.
  10. Book: Contributions of saints and seers to the music of India, Volume 2. Shantsheela Sathianathan. Kanishka Publishers, Distributors. 1996. 438–439. 9788173911118.
  11. Book: Mysticism in Maharashtra: Indian Mysticism. R. D. Ranade. Motilal Banarsidass Publ.. 1982. 214. 9788120805767.